


Don't You Ever Grow Up

by Humansunshine



Series: Maia Month 2018 [15]
Category: Shadowhunters (TV)
Genre: Babysitting, Friendship, Maia Month 2018, Pre-Canon, partly set in 2A
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-18
Updated: 2018-07-18
Packaged: 2019-06-12 15:39:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,343
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15343011
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Humansunshine/pseuds/Humansunshine
Summary: Luke takes Maia to see Catarina when she's first turned and the two women strike up a friendship.





	Don't You Ever Grow Up

**Author's Note:**

> Based on a prompt from magical-magnus on tumblr! The prompt was: Could you write Luke taking Maia to Catarina after he first finds her just to make sure she's okay and and the two of them becoming somewhat friends. Or something with them already being friends and after Catarina takes Madzie in she sometimes asks Maia to watch over her, so Madzie becomes really attached to her and asks her more about fish and gills.

“I told you, I’m fine.” Maia muttered, pulling the blanket tighter around herself.

Luke glanced at her, shaking his head a little. “There’s a nurse here who knows about people like us. We need to make sure your body has fully accepted the change; sometimes your immune system makes things difficult. It won’t take long, I promise.” 

“I hate hospitals. And I don’t have insurance.” 

“This is strictly off the books.” A voice said behind Maia, and she turned around to see a black woman with a kind, open face. “You’re Maia? My name’s Catarina Loss. Come with me. You can bring Luke if you like.”

Maia wrinkled her nose and shook her head. Luke huffed out a laugh and took a seat in the waiting room as Maia followed Catarina to a small room. Catarina sat down in front of the desk, patting the bed next to her. “I, um… I don’t like needles.” Maia admitted.

“I don’t need to take blood from you,” Catarina assured her, and Maia relaxed a little, hopping up on the bed. “Has Luke told you about warlocks?” 

“Warlocks?” Maia repeated, her mind reeling. “Like magic?”

“Exactly like magic,” Catarina smiled. She flicked her wrist, and an orb of blue energy formed in her hand, shimmering with the rhythm of her breath. 

Maia’s scientific curiosity got the best of her, and she reached out to touch it. There was a tiny electric shock, but once that initial sting passed, the magic felt warm, like breath. Perhaps a litle thicker than breath, but… It was welcoming. Gentle. “Huh.” 

“Is it alright if I check you over now? It won’t hurt.” 

“Yeah, yeah, sure.” Maia watched as Catarina’s magic snaked out, wrapping around her arm and then her chest. It didn’t squeeze, though she could feel its warmth sink into her skin, like coming into a heated room after shovelling snow for hours. “Whoa.”

Catarina smirked, raising her eyebrow. “Thoughts?”

“I wish I’d been a warlock instead of a werewolf.” 

A laugh escaped Catarina’s mouth, and her magic retreated. “There are downsides to being a warlock. And you’re perfectly healthy. It’s almost as if you were born to be a wolf, you’re very strong considering you’ve just changed. Your healing rate is good, even for a wolf.” 

“Well,” Maia sighed, rubbing her arms to warm herself up in the wake of Catarina’s magic leaving her, “that’s good, I guess.”

Catarina turned to write something down, and pushed a piece of paper int Maia’s hand. “If you need anything, give me a call. Luke’s great, and he’ll look after you, but if the pack gets overwhelming, come over any time.” 

Maia smiled slightly, tucking the piece of paper in her pocket. “Thanks, Catarina. I appreciate it, and I might just take you up on your offer soon. The pack sounds a lot like a family, and I’m not too good with those.” 

“They can certainly be intense,” Catarina snorted, “but they are fiercely loyal and protective. You could do worse.” 

Maia hummed, taking the blanket from around her shoulders and folding it up as she headed to the door. “Loyalty, huh? Maybe they won’t be so bad.” 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“I can’t believe you just adopted a kid out of nowhere,” Maia whispered, shaking her head as she watched Madzie play with her doll house. 

“I’m almost three hundred. It was about time,” Cat teased. She looked tired but happy, and her apartment had been totally transformed. Maia was used to coming in and throwing herself down on the huge, pristine sofa to rant about Luke and-slash-or Russell, but now the sofa was taken up by several huge stuffed animals, sat upright in a row, and Maia had been consigned to a kitchen chair, instead. She couldn’t begrudge Madzie though; she was just too cute. Her little pigtails and her penchant for cuddly dolls made Maia’s heart squeeze. She’d never thought of herself as a kids sort of person, but seeing Catarina with Madzie made her rethink that, at least a little.

“How are you getting along?” 

“Well, she’s a child, not a roommate,” Catarina giggled, “but yeah, at first we were a little nervous around each other, but we’re getting there. She doesn’t talk much but she’s gotten better at telling me when she needs something.” 

“That’s good,” Maia nodded, because she felt like that was probably a good thing. “Well, I’m glad that you two found each other. It seems like it all worked out really well.” 

“Yeah, I think so too.” Catarina said, a smile in her voice. Maia had seen her happy before, dozens of times, actually. They’d spent hours laughing in each others’ presence over a bottle of wine and a ridiculous mundane comedy that Catarina had never seen. But Maia had never seen her so serene, so content. Life would never be easy, but there was a sense that Catarina was above it now. Like she had a reason to stay grounded. “Do you think you could watch her for a couple of hours next week?”

Maia’s first instinct was to say no. How could she take care of a little girl?! She had no idea what Madzie liked, what she could do to entertain her… 

“The sitter cancelled and I have a shift at the hospital. Magnus can watch her if you can’t, but-”

“Yeah, I can watch her.” Maia blurted out. “How hard can it be?” 

Catarina hummed happily. “That’s the spirit.” 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Your hair is pretty.” Madzie told Maia, about ten minutes after Catarina left. Maia hadn’t expected her to say anything; Madzie had never spoken a word in her presence in the few times they’d met before. 

“Thanks. I like your pigtails.” Maia answered, hoping she didn’t look as taken aback as she felt. 

Madzie abandoned her doll house to come and sit cross-legged on the floor in front of Maia. She held a teddy bear out to Maia, who slowly took it. She made it dance, and Madzie smiled. After a minute or so, Madzie got bored of that and went back over to play with her doll house, and Maia opened her textbook, Madzie’s teddy still tucked under her arm. 

The silence was golden, and Maia got a fair bit done. When she finished the chapter, she glanced at the clock and saw that it was a little past Madzie’s designated dinner time, so she got up from the couch, leaving her textbook open, and headed into the kitchen. Catarina had told her that a peanut butter and jelly sandwich would be fine; if Madzie wanted something else se’d just turn the sandwich into whatever she wanted, anyway. 

“You like fish?” Madzie asked, wandering into the kitchen, Maia’s textbook in her hands.

Maia looked over her shoulder and smiled. “Yeah, I’m learning about them in college.”

Madzie nodded, fiddling with her bandana. She heaved the textbook up onto a chair and flicked through it, apparently finding something very interesting after a couple of moments. Maia let her look, knowing that the little warlock wouldn’t damage the book. And even if she did, Cat could always fix it when she came back.

“Gills.” Madzie sighed, and Maia looked around again.

“What about them?” Maia hummed. She turned around and put the sandwich on the table, lifting Madzie up to sit in the chair. 

Madzie frowned down at the sandwich for a moment. “Are gills… Good?”

Maia sat in the chair opposite her. “Gills let fish breathe underwater. They’re very cool.”

“Cool?” Madzie repeated, her frown fading into hopefulness. 

Maia nodded, smiling. “Yeah! Gills are actually better than human mouths. They’re more efficient. Use less energy.” 

Madzie bit into her sandwich, chewing in deep thought. When she swallowed, she looked back at Maia. “Do you want gills?”

“If I could have gills, I would.” 

Madzie considered for a moment whether or not Maia was lying, and ultimately decided that she was telling the truth. “Gills are cool.” Madzie muttered, scratching her nose.

Maybe Mommy would let Maia play with her more often after today.

**Author's Note:**

> Accepting Maia-centric prompts until the end of July!


End file.
